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BYU PATHWAY WORLDWIDE
WHAT IS FERPA?
WHAT IS FERPA?
“The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that affords parents the right to have access to their children’s education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records. When a student turns 18 years old or enters a postsecondary institution at any age, the rights under FERPA transfer from the parents to the student (“eligible student”). The FERPA statute is found at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g and the FERPA regulations are found at 34 CFR Part 99.”
THE PSC & FERPA
THE PSC & FERPA
PathwayConnect’s Confidentiality of Student Records protects the privacy of student records.
BYU-Pathway Support Center protects more information than the regular FERPA Policy. This is to ensure the safety and protection of the student and his/her education records.
WHY DO WE NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THIS?
WHY DO WE NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THIS?
Every student interaction we have that involves a specific student and anything on their student profile or account needs to be verified (when interacting with students over the phone, e-mail, and chat).
Most of the time, it will be the student reaching out to us, but occasionally there will be someone else (a parent, missionary, friend, etc.)
They cannot access any FERPA-protected information without the permission of the student or without the FERPA identifier.
This is because the student is over 18 years old and therefore is the only person who legally has rights to their personal information.
If the student would like to give access to anyone other than themselves, they will need to fill out a 3rd party release form.
FERPA IS IMPORTANT!
FERPA IS IMPORTANT!
BYU Pathway Worldwide takes the confidentiality of our students very seriously. Therefore, it is important we do our part as agents in the Pathway Support Center to follow the FERPA laws closely. We do not want to give out the student's personal information to anyone who is not verified to receive it.
FERPA CHECK PROCESS
FERPA CHECK PROCESS
FERPA Checking Over Live Chat:
During a live chat or outbound call, we must verify if the person we are talking to is the student.
To do that we send a quick reply that says: "Because you are a Pathway Connect student (…) what is your phone number, email address, and birth date?"
After the student answers all those questions, we go to Path 2.0, and we search for the contact information of the student.
If we find that everything is correct, we continue to assist the student.
If one of the answers is incorrect, we ask another identifying question like their student ID number, home address, ward, stake, church account username, etc.
FERPA CHECK PROCESS
LIVE CHAT CALL FEATURE
LIVE CHAT CALL FEATURE
FERPA Checking Over Phones:
If you are calling a student through the live chat call feature:
FERPA checks the student during the live chat before you make the call
FERPA CHECK PROCESS
USING CISCO JABBER OR ZOOM
USING CISCO JABBER OR ZOOM
FERPA Checking Over Phones:
If you are calling a student through Cisco Jabber or Zoom:
FERPA checks the student at the beginning of the call before you begin helping them.
Refer to the Cisco Jabber call script
FERPA CHECKING WITH CISCO JABBER
FERPA CHECKING WITH CISCO JABBER
After greeting the student and introducing yourself, ask them 3 FERPA questions. Examples are given in the script.
REMEMBER!!!
Be sure you...
Ask 3 FERPA verifying questions
Make sure every aspect of the information they give us matches. For example, if we ask for the name of a student's stake and they say "Ontario" but the information in Path 2.0 says "Ontario Oregon Stake" it doesn't pass the FERPA check. If this happens, please ask the student to clarify or ask a different FERPA question.
The QA Team checks to make sure we are FERPA-checking students correctly. It is important we follow the FERPA law closely and check the students we are in contact with over chat and before calling them.
3RD PARTY RELEASE FORMS
A 3rd party release form is used so a student can authorize someone else to have access to his/her education records/information.
WHAT TO DO WHEN THE STUDENT REQUESTS THE FORM
When a student requests the 3rd party release form, please follow these steps:
Tell the student you will send the 3rd Party Release form via email. The student needs to fill out the entire document and have it signed. It can be emailed, or mailed to us
Get the 3rd-party’s contact information and create a new contact for him/her
Create the ticket under the student's name. Title the ticket “3rd Party Release (semester & year). Put the 3rd party as the referral
Send the release form to the student (use the email template "Third-Party Release")
Once the student sends the form back, let them know we received it.
Attach the form to the student contact (If you are unsure how to do this, please talk with a supervisor)
WHAT TO DO WHEN THE 3RD PARTY REQUESTS STUDENT INFORMATION
Check to see if the 3rd party has been approved by going to the student’s account on CRM.
Look for the ticket titled “3rd Party Release (semester and year)”.
Check that the form is filled out and the student has approved them.
IF THE 3RD PARTY HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED
Explain the importance of Confidentiality of Student Records and that we will send a release form to the student.
Create the ticket under the student's name and put the 3rd party as the referral.
Send the release form to the student (use the email template "1 PSC Third-Party Release")
If the 3rd party has been approved, you may discuss the student’s information with them.
Please see the release form in the "Summary" section of the article PC - Confidentiality of Student Records 3rd Party Release Form (FERPA)
*The PC - Confidentiality of Student Records 3rd Party Release Form (FERPA) article also includes the mailing and email address you will need to provide students if they are filling out the 3rd party release form.
WHAT TO DO IF SOMEONE OTHER THAN THE STUDENT CONTACTS US
If a third party (instructors and mentors are also considered third-party) contacts us requesting information about a student’s account, do the following:
Answer general PathwayConnect questions to the best of your ability, but do not give any information about the student’s account. Do not say, "I cannot give you any information" but instead say, "I cannot give you the student's personal information, but I will help you as best I can with the situation"
Ask if the third party would like a Release Form (used for the student to give someone else access to his/her education records/information). Refer to the article PC - Confidentiality of Student Records 3rd Party Release Form
Mentors can also reach out to their Mentor Training Lead for further assistance
INFORMATION WE CAN SHARE WITH STUDENT'S PATHWAYCONNECT MISSIONARIES
Student name
Home and local address
Telephone numbers
E-mail addresses
Dates of attendance (current and past)
Religious affiliation to local church or congregation
Photograph (if applicable)
Number of months/semesters enrolled
Total credit hours earned
Anticipated future enrollments
Course registrations prior to the beginning of a semester/term
Number of months/semesters enrolled
Class standing (freshman, sophomore, etc.)
Enrollment status (full-time, part-time, less than half-time)
Deferred registration eligibility
The above information is considered directory information and may be shared with Missionaries and Mentors. Any information not found in the list above is considered private, and under PathwayConnect’s Confidentiality of Student Records and should not be shared.
WE CAN NOT GIVE THE FOLLOWING INFO TO THE STUDENT, MISSIONARIES, OR 3RD PARTY
Grades
Teach students how to access their grades through byupathway.org if they ask, but do not discuss their grades with them.
Payments
Direct students to their payment page on byupathway.org. We should not give out financial information about a student to anyone but the student unless they have filled out a 3rd party release form to give another individual access to their records.
Missionaries Contact Information (for Students & 3rd Party contacts)
Teach students how to access their missionaries contact information on byupathway.org under their "My Contacts" tab
Impersonating the student's portal can be helpful when you are walking them through how to access the above information.
HOLDS ON STUDENT'S ACCOUNTS
Students can update their privacy settings on byupathway.org which may limit how much the BYU-Pathway Support Center can help them.
Full Restriction
If a student has a FULL confidentiality restriction, the BYU-Pathway Support Center may not assist the student or discuss the student's information unless they are physically present. We would need to say, “We do not have any record of you. However, I still may be able to help you. What is your question?”
Partial Restriction
If a student has a PART confidentiality restriction, BYU-Pathway Support Center may mention that they are enrolled, but not talk about any details of the student's account unless they are physically present.
No Restriction
If a student has no restriction, make sure he/she passes the 3-step verification first. After, you may talk about the student's account and details with the student.
PLEASE REVIEW THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
PC - CONFIDENTIALITY OF STUDENT RECORDS (FERPA)
PC - CONFIDENTIALITY OF STUDENT RECORDS 3RD PARTY RELEASE FORM (FERPA)
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